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They arrived on the scene making a lot of noise, but that sound you didn’t hear was the death of an activist group.

Occupy London — the local arm of the global movement aimed at raising awareness of income inequality, among other issues — is no more, but that doesn’t mean the activism is over, says a key Occupy London figure.

In fact, Eric Shepperd says the real legacy of Occupy is in the number of new Forest City activists who were “activated” by the brief, yet loud, protest movement known for pitching tents and serving soup in Victoria Park.

“I think the long-term effects remain to be seen,” he said.

Shepperd was often credited in the mainstream media with being Occupy London’s spokesperson. However, he prefers to be called a “participant,” explaining the organization did not have a rigid structure, but was instead an open, inclusive, informal collective.

At its height, as during the Victoria Park occupation in the fall of 2011, Shepperd says as many as 100-200 people participated in Occupy London activities. He notes those people are still involved in various forms of protest.

Shepperd is helping with the campaigns of two municipal candidates, but declined to name them. Other former Occupiers have formed a media co-operative called The Indignants. Some have taken up the Food Not Bombs cause, while yet others have set up a free school to swap the skills they know with each other.

“The network still remains very strong,” he said. “Everyone’s helping in their own little way,”

In at least one respect, he says the Occupy movement as a whole was a “huge

success — and that was in changing the discourse around income inequality. Occupy terminology about “the 1%,” meaning society’s elite ruling class, has been absorbed into the mainstream.

“It’s on the public’s consciousness, at the very least,” Shepperd explained.

A sometime-candidate for London’s mayoralty, he says the current form of Canadian democracy is not working for the common person.

“The government needs to be closer to the people,” he said — in every apartment building, on every block and in every neighbourhood.

This is why he has chosen to support pro-democracy municipal candidates that care about citizen participation.

Shepperd carries with him postive memories of Occupy London, which was an outgrowth of the Occupy Wall Street protests that garnered headlines around the world.

“The thing that inspires me is just how caring the community (of activists) is.”